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Boutique cinemas in San Francisco are turning to nonprofit status or support to raise revenue, reflecting an industry trend, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The city’s Roxie Theater became a nonprofit in 2008 and has been able to raise its operating budget by supplementing ticket sales with grants, benefit events, and a membership drive. Two other local cinemas, the Vogue and the Balboa, rely on the nonprofit San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation for renovations and other major expenses.

Strategic Philanthropy: Who Wins and Loses? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.: I am beginning to believe that the notion of so-called “strategic philanthropy,” in all of its beguiling and shape-shifting forms, is a very powerful accomplice in transforming the funding ecology and structure of the nonprofit sector. Quite simply, it shifts the onus for creativity and decision making to those who have control of the finances and narrows, in many cases, the number of groups with whom philanthropists have to reciprocally communicate as they “focus” ever more acutely not just on the outcomes they hope for but on their preferred strategy for production of those outcomes. And this smaller number of grantees become the anointed—the chosen.

Why are charities obsessed with celebrating anniversaries? | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional: I talked to somebody last week from an overseas development charity that was busy preparing for its 40th anniversary. Not 50th, not 25th, but 40th. This is not unusual. Charities seem to be obsessed with celebrating anniversaries. It doesn't have to be a particularly significant anniversary, but it does have to be celebrated. For me, charities celebrating anniversaries makes about as much sense as hedgehogs celebrating a new bypass.

Operation Goody Bag is a service project formed in the wake of Sept. 11 that decorates and fills brown lunch bags with candy and letters to give to military men and women, veterans and first responders.

The Navy SEAL Foundation says it will not accept any donations generated by the memoir, "No Easy Day," which the Pentagon says likely contains classified information that could put military personnel at risk.

$1 million in one day? Austin nonprofit has a fundraising plan: I Live Here, I Give Here — a nonprofit that promotes philanthropy and connects Central Texans with charities — announced six months ago that it plans to try to raise $1 million over a 24-hour period that begins at 7 p.m. March 4, 2013. The money, which will be raised online, will go to 300 local nonprofits. Donors can choose which charity they want to support.

The event has been dubbed Amplify Austin, a play on the city's music scene and a nod to its already giving nature, said Patsy Woods Martin, executive director of I Live Here, I Give Here.

NEW YORK — Chase announced today the launch of the voting period for the 2012 Chase Community Giving program, which will determine the allocation of $5 million in Chase grants to 196 charities selected by Facebook users and Chase online customers.

Scope of the Nonprofit Sector | Independent Sector: The American nonprofit and philanthropic community plays a crucial role in lives across the country and around the world.[1] In 2011, over 1.6 million tax-exempt organizations of all kinds (various 501(c) subsectors) were registered with the IRS.[2]

501(c)(3)s make up a majority of tax-exempt organizations, numbering close to 1.1 million organizations in 2011. This number includes public charities, private foundations, and religious organizations.

Ms. Benero has been at ground zero of high-profile tragedies that have prompted emotional and generous philanthropic responses, first after the wildfires that destroyed more than 350 homes this spring and then after July's mass shooting on the opening night of a new Batman movie.

“NO vendors, please.” � Reid All About It: Some association executives want to hear advice only from those who have been in their shoes, either as a CEO or director of membership, education, or another department. But many vendors have been in these same positions – they know what they’re talking about.

Even if vendors don’t have association management experience, they can provide you with the examples or guidance you seek

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

The AFP Blog: Better Than We Thought?: The Nonprofit Overhead Cost Project actually found that average fundraising and administrative costs for most nonprofit subsectors, was less than 30 cents. Most charities understand what it takes to keep the show on the road. What we fail to do is to communicate that to the public.

First, we encourage each other to take more risks. Derrick Feldman, CEO of Achieve, contended earlier this month that “risk is an unloved word in philanthropy" and called for “a philanthropic marketplace where risk is celebrated, not avoided, and serves to bring us closer to solving some of the biggest challenges we face.”

Under new chief executive Tim Cook, Apple is breaking with past policy and making big charitable donations, but the tech giant still ranks well below several other major corporations in terms of giving, according to the New York Post.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The level of corporate philanthropy at Duke Energy, which merged with Progress Energy effective July 2, will not shrink from the combined support the two companies have been providing in the communities they serve, and its philanthropy will continue to focus on the social needs the two companies have been addressing, the head of the Duke Energy Foundation says.